Finger on the trigger

Forget country gents and James Bond, London 2012 made shooting cool again. Feeling inspired, Lydia Fallon loads up her ammunition for a session with Gogs Rifle Club.

Who could forget the image of farmer’s son Peter Wilson falling to the floor in floods of tears after securing gold in the double trap competition? It certainly had me reaching for the tissues.

The 26-year-old may have been an unknown leading up to the Games, but the spine-tingling tension when Peter had to make that last target was just epic.

Those of us who had never picked up a gun in our lives suddenly wanted to grab a rifle and head to the nearest range, truly believing that this may be the sport for us.

Having already crossed heptathlon (not fit enough) and synchronised swimming (not elegant enough) off my list; I hoped that during my session with Gogs Rifle Club, I may uncover some hidden talent with a gun.

Sadly Rio looks like a long shot (!), but what I did uncover was a pretty great sport. Tense, skilful and hugely addictive – shooting takes the term ‘margin of error’ to a whole other level.

Accuracy has never been my strong point, so I feared the worst when Team GB shooter and Gogs member Jenny Corish informed me that some targets can measure as little as 0.5mm wide, that’s roughly the size of a full stop!

“You’re competing against yourself as well as your competitors,” Jenny explained. “That’s one of the things I love most about it. It’s a challenge that anyone can do, fit or unfit. Anybody and everybody can give it a go.”

And that’s exactly the mantra Gogs Rifle Club operates by. Continually striving to shoot down the stereotype, those expecting country gents and a helluva lot of tweed will be pleasantly surprised. The club is one of the biggest in Cambridge and caters to everyone from complete and utter beginners (me) to those like Jenny who shoot at international level.

Having already been put through my paces at taekwondo and judo, I was expecting shooting to be a pleasant change from the more physical Olympic sports. I mean, how hard it can be to pick up a gun and shoot at a target?

The answer is extremely hard!

The basics of shooting are pretty simple to master; you point, aim and fire. But the skill required is often underestimated.

Shooting is a sport that requires immense strength and unwavering concentration. Having to stand deadly still in one position for up to 50 minutes, whilst shooting at targets almost invisible to the naked eye, is, as you can imagine, pretty gruelling.

Although professional shooters handle the gun like a feather, when Jenny handed me her air rifle for the first time I almost buckled under the weight of it. I was extremely relieved when she revealed that we would start shooting from a sitting down position before progressing to standing.

Explaining the different components, she showed me how to load the pellets (changed from bullets to rid the sport of negative associations), and the miniscule hole you need to look through to find the target – turns out my sight is not so good!

Attractive eye-patch fitted, I attempted my first few shots. After letting out a high-pitched scream during my first attempt, I eventually managed to get over the shock of having a real-life weapon in my hands and didn’t do too badly at all, managing to form a small cluster around one of the targets.

Attempting the same thing standing up, proved much more difficult to master. In shooting it’s important that your body stays as relaxed as possible – the slightest twitch could sway the pellet completely off course, I found this one of the most difficult aspects of the sport. That and the fact that you have to concentrate so hard you feel like your head is going to explode. The more you wait and try to get everything completely still, the more you find yourself twitching. It is something that Jenny admits can take years to master.

Shoulders and arms aching, we switched our attention to the pistol, the only firearm in the Olympics to be shot using only one hand. This was every bit as tricky but equally as addictive.

And that’s what truly attracted me to the sport; the hour long session flew by in a whirl of pellets because I just couldn’t tear myself away from those targets. I fired the guns like it was one of life’s necessities, and couldn’t relax until I’d got at least one shot where it should be.

If you’re on the hunt for a sport to get fit, this is probably not the one for you. But if you’re after something that offers colossal amounts of skill, intricacy and drama, you’re going to love shooting.

Plus you get to play with loads of cool guns – what more could you ask for?

Gogs Rifle Club meet on Thursday and Friday evenings at the Elizabeth Way Range in Cambridge. For more information visit the website at www.cambridgeshiresmallbore.co.uk.